TransLink hasn’t abandoned tapping out on buses, acting CEO says

Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun01.27.2016

TransLink acting CEO Cathy McLay said the transportation authority likely won’t consider having passengers tap out until the error rate is down to at least one per cent to ensure it’s not a pain for passengers using the system.

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TransLink says it has not ruled out having its Compass card passengers tap out on buses, but says this won’t happen until it has vastly improved the glitches in the bus reader system because it wants to keep passengers happy.

Acting CEO Cathy McLay said TransLink had initially decided to make all bus travel one zone and only require passengers to tap in, and not out, to ensure passengers didn’t ditch the system in frustration. TransLink wrestled with bringing down its tap-in and tap-out rate on buses before choosing to make all bus travel one zone during the launch of Compass last fall.

“You’re managing policy with customer service,” McLay told Metro Vancouver mayors Wednesday. “If we required bus passengers to tap out, the error rate would have been so high during the transition that our ridership would have permanently declined.”

McLay said the error rate on the bus readers has already been reduced to two per cent, but TransLink would not say what has been done to improve the system thus far. McLay said the transportation authority likely won’t consider having passengers tap out until it’s down to at least one per cent to ensure it’s not a pain for passengers using the system. Unlike SkyTrain users, she said, bus passengers don’t have the option to go back and tap out if they forget, which means they would have been automatically charged for three zones, even if they only travelled one.

“People don’t normally get off in an orderly fashion, two by two,” she said. “We have not closed any gates, or doors, so to speak. If it comes down to one per cent we will see if we will implement the tap-out function.”

McLay was responding to concerns from mayors that TransLink would have a difficult time crafting a new fare policy under the new Compass card program without specific knowledge of bus riders’ travel patterns. TransLink is proposing over the next two years to change its fare structure, which could mean the end of its three-zone system. At the moment, adult passengers are charged three fare rates: $2.75 for one zone, such as within the city of Vancouver, $4 for two zones, say Vancouver to Burnaby, and $5.50 for three zones, Vancouver to Surrey.

The Compass card was expected to help TransLink determine travel patterns of its passengers — who must tap in and out whenever they take SkyTrain, SeaBus or West Coast Express — and create a more equitable fare structure. The last fare policy review was 30 years ago, before the Expo SkyTrain Line started operating.

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan questioned how TransLink would know where those passengers were travelling without the tap-out function on buses, as well as how much money TransLink was losing a result of charging only one zone for bus travel.

“I can’t imagine, given the three zone fares, that there hasn’t been some loss of revenue when you go to one zone,” he said. “If you’re not having riders tap off how can you determine whether or not there has been a major loss of income as a result?”

McLay would not say how much revenue TransLink expects to lose as a result of making bus travel one zone. She noted while bus passengers aren’t tapping out, TransLink can take advantage of “smart data” to calculate bus-to-bus zones as well as how many passengers are tapping into SkyTrain. She noted 85 per cent of bus passengers now typically only travel one zone anyway.

“What we do know today is how many passes have been sold and how much revenue. We just can’t tell where they’re going,” she said. “That’s been very frustrating to planners.”

TransLink has experienced a series of problems with its Compass card project, which was over budget and launched two years behind schedule. Earlier this month, customers complained it took them hours to set up monthly fares on their Compass cards because of a massive backlog in the system that jammed the Compass website and tied up phone lines. Passengers were required, as of Jan. 1, to transfer their monthly passes to a Compass card after TransLink announced it would no longer accept the paper version of the monthly pass.

McLay said she doesn’t expect a similar backlog next month following upgrades on the system, nor as much complication when TransLink stops selling paper fare cards at the end of the month in a bid to nudge passengers to the Compass card. Passengers can continue to use their paper tickets until all the fare gates are in operation, and then transfer the remainder to their Compass cards. TransLink also plans to start selling pre-loaded Compass cards, similar to those used for iTunes.

TransLink is on major push to improve customer relations following a failed plebiscite, which underscored a major lack of public confidence in the transit authority. McLay said TransLink wants to offer a “customer guarantee” that could see rebates offered after major transit problems, or a loyalty program for regular pass holders.

ksinoski@postmedia.comTwitter:@ksinoski

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TransLink hasn’t abandoned tapping out on buses, acting CEO says

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